A/N: Here is another one! I'm working my way to the curse being broken I promise! :) Hopefully over the break I'll get to that part in the story! :) Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Warning: There is a spanking of a minor in this chapter. If you don't like that, don't read. :)
Emma and Ella
Chapter 10: Operation Cobra
"Ella, your mom is here." David called up the stairs when he heard her pull into the drive. He went to meet her at the door.
David opened the door and smiled as Mary Margaret came up to the door. "Hi beautiful."
Mary Margaret blushed, "Hey David." She replied with a shy smile.
"How was your meeting?" David asked with an even bigger smile.
"Pointless as usually, but how was my daughter? Did she behave for you?" Mary Margaret asked in concern.
"Well…" David said started, feeling bad for having to give Mary Margaret bad news, but it wasn't something he could keep from her.
"Did she sneak off?" Mary Margaret asked with wide eyes.
"She tried, but I caught her before she got too far. Emma tried to cover for her, but I could tell she was lying so I headed outside and saw her walking away. I talked to her, but couldn't get much out of her on where she was going. I'll I know is that she was trying to get proof of that theory of hers."
"Oh my goodness. I am so sorry. I was thinking she would have been better for you." Mary Margaret said in embarrassment.
"Well after I caught her, she did do better, but I also kept a better eye on her."
"That's good. I certainly will deal with her behavior. I just don't know what else to do to get through to her." Mary Margaret said with a frown.
David gave her a sympathetic look, knowing it was hard being the parent sometimes. Before he could say anything, Ella and Emma started down the stairs. He looked over to Mary Margaret to see her looking at her daughter sternly. He then looked back up to see Ella looking down at the floor to avoid her mother's eyes.
"Ella." Mary Margaret said sternly as Ella got to her. "Is there something you need to say to David?" She added quietly.
Ella's face reddened a little at being talked to like a little kid in front of Emma and David. She knew her mom was telling her to apologize to David, but she didn't want to do that so she came up with a different idea.
"Thanks for watching me…" Ella said quickly and David had to hide a smile at what she just tried.
"Ella, you know that's not what I meant. Now, apologize." Mary Margaret said firmly.
Ella got mad then at being ordered to apologize so she stomped her foot and yelled, "No!" at her mother before storming out the door.
Mary Margaret gasped in surprise at her daughter's nerve. She then looked at David with a sheepish look. "I am sorry. She is normally a lot more behaved than this."
"It's alright. You'll both get through this." David told her kindly before leaning in to kiss her forehead.
"I hope it is soon." Mary Margaret said wearily. "Thanks again for watching her and sorry for everything."
"It was no problem and don't worry about it." David told her kindly.
Mary Margaret smiled before leaving to go deal with her daughter. David shut the door and turned to Emma. "Do you know where Ella was trying to go this afternoon?"
"No. She didn't tell me." Emma told him truthfully.
David narrowed his eyes, but he could tell she was telling her the truth. "Do you know any of the places she has gone?"
"No…" Emma said, but it wasn't completely true.
"What do you know?" David asked suspiciously.
"Nothing." Emma said quickly as she tried to sneak back up the stairs.
"Freeze." David said firmly and Emma froze on the stairs with a sheepish look. "Tell me what you know."
"I….I.." Emma stuttered.
"Emma. Mary Margaret and I are both very worried about her. It would be very helpful if we knew what you know about where she is going." David tried to convince her. He was really worried about her, it was almost like she was his daughter as well. He felt a strange connection to her that he couldn't explain. He had the same connection with Emma when he first met her. He felt the need to protect both Emma and Ella.
Emma bit her lip. She didn't want to tell on Ella, but she was a bit worried about her. "Well…she did tell me that she was sneaking around…the mayor's house…and office for proof of the curse."
"That mayor's office? Why in the world would she do that?"
"Well the mayor is supposed to be the Evil Queen that cast the curse against Snow White." Emma told him.
"I have to tell Mary Margaret. The mayor is not someone Ella should be around and neither should you." David said, knowing that their mayor wasn't the best person around. Regina Mills didn't take too kindly to Mary Margaret or him for that matter. She was always making life hard for Mary Margaret and Ella. If she found out that Ella was sneaking around her house or office, that could mean trouble for both of them.
"No, no, you can't or else Ella will know I told you!" Emma said in a panicked voice.
"Emma, I can't just let this go. I'll make sure that Ella doesn't know it was you I heard it from, but Mary Margaret needs to know about this." David told her.
"But…" Emma started in worry.
"I'm sorry, Emma, but this can't be helped. Now let's go eat dinner, it is about ready." David said as he put a hand on her back to guide her into the kitchen. He would call Mary Margaret a little later and let her know what was going on.
*****OUAT*****
"You're just mad because I screwed up in front of your new boyfriend!" Ella shouted at her mother in anger.
"You know that is not what this is about." Mary Margaret said quickly and firmly. "You took advantage of being with him to try and sneak out again."
Ella rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Don't roll your eyes at me!" Mary Margaret scolded getting frustrated with her daughter's behavior and attitude.
Ella did look a little sheepish at that, knowing that she was pushing her luck when she was on thin ice.
"Now where were you trying to go?" Mary Margaret asked after she took a few seconds to calm down.
"Nowhere." Ella snapped in anger.
"Watch your tone with me, young lady!" Mary Margaret countered with a stern, mama look.
Ella looked down with a wince at her mom's tone and look. She hadn't meant to snap, but she was tired of being asked where she was going.
"Now, David said you were trying to get proof for your theory…"
"It isn't a theory!" Ella yelled, but then found herself being turned and swatted on her backside before being turned to face her frustrated mother.
"You can stop yelling at me right this instant." Mary Margaret said firmly as she looked into her daughter's eyes. "Now, are you going to tell me where you were going or not?"
"No." Ella said with a pout at getting spanked.
"Well then you can march right up to your room and think about your behavior and attitude. I'll be up in a little while." Mary Margaret said firmly with a disappointed look on her face.
Ella rolled her eyes at getting sent to her room again, but it didn't go unnoticed by her mother who sighed and wondered what she had to do to get through to her daughter.
Mary Margaret started making dinner as she calmed down and tried to think of how she should deal with her daughter.
30 minutes later…
Mary Margaret was startled by her phone ringing. It had just been her thoughts and sounds of her cooking in the kitchen until it rang.
"Hello?" Mary Margaret answered.
"Hey, Mary Margaret. I was just calling to let you know that I got a little out of Emma about where Ella has been going and I thought you should know." David started.
"Where has she been going?" Mary Margaret asked in surprise, but also worry.
"Emma said that she has been sneaking around Mayor Mill's house and office looking for evidence for her theory." David told her.
"Oh my goodness. If Regina finds out, she will make our lives even harder than she already has. She hates me and in extension, she hates Ella." Mary Margaret worried.
"Why does she hate you?" David asked in confusion. It was known that Mayor Mills had it out for Mary Margaret, but no one really knew why.
"I don't know. She has always hated me. When I decided to adopt Ella, she made it so my pay was cut so that I could hardly afford to keep her. Of course I made it work, but she has never made it easy for us." Mary Margaret explained.
"That can't be alright. I mean she can't do that, right?"
"That's what I thought, but she has everyone afraid of her and she somehow controls Mr. Gold. And you know that Mr. Gold controls and owns the town. There wasn't much I could do. My pay has gone up a little since then, but it has never gotten back up to where it was." Mary Margaret told him.
"That's terrible." David said, having not known about any of this.
"It's like she doesn't want me to happy, but she doesn't realize that Ella makes me happy and I would do anything to keep her." Mary Margaret explained lovingly.
"I know what you mean. I feel the same about Emma." David said warmly. He felt terrible though for Mary Margaret. She shouldn't have to deal with all that. Neither should Ella.
"I have to figure out what to do with Ella. She really can't be sneaking around Regina's. She shouldn't be sneaking off at all!" Mary Margaret said in worry.
"I know. I tried to talk to her, but it didn't seem to convince her of anything." David replied.
"I know and she is already grounded until I tell her otherwise. I got sick of her sneaking off and just told her until I could trust her that she was grounded."
"I would have done the same thing. Where is she now?"
"In her room. I sent her up after she kept yelling at me and giving me attitude. I half-tempted to just give her a good spanking for both her attitude and her behavior." Mary Margaret said.
"Maybe you should then." David said.
"I just might. Lecturing her and grounding her doesn't seem to be working." Mary Margaret said with a sigh.
"Well you know what is best. I'm sure you'll know what to do to set her right." David encouraged her.
"I hope so. I feel like I am failing as a mother right now." Mary Margaret replied.
"You aren't. You and Ella are just going through a tough patch. You'll both get through it and whatever you need I'll be here." David told her.
"Thanks, that means a lot." Mary Margaret said with a smile that David couldn't see. It was nice to be able to talk to another adult about this. She went for so long dealing with these issues without being able to discuss it with anyone besides Granny and Ruby. It almost felt like David was her husband or could be someday.
"It's no problem, I would do anything for you and your daughter." David replied kindly. "You know, we need to have another date soon…." David added.
"Oh really?" Mary Margaret asked in a flirty voice.
"Yes, I had a lot of fun at our last date." David answered.
"Me too." Mary Margaret answered with a grin. "However, I am not sure when we will be able to go out again unless I can get a babysitter for my little escape artist."
David chuckled. "Maybe you could get Ruby or better yet Granny? She could sit on her while we are gone."
Mary Margaret laughed. "Yes, that should keep her from escaping again."
"Maybe Ruby or Granny will be free sometime this weekend to watch both our girls so we could out for a little bit." David said hopefully.
"We could try. I could use sometime away from all this." Mary Margaret replied.
"Good." David said happily before they talked a little more about their potential date.
After about 15 minutes of talking, Mary Margaret realized she needed to go deal with her daughter and then get dinner finished, "Well, I guess I should let you go so I can deal with Ella."
"Of course. It was good to talk to you again. If you need to talk again after you deal with her, don't hesitate to call me." David told her seriously.
"Thank you, I think I might just do that." Mary Margaret answered, quite touched by his offer to talk later if she needed it.
"I hope you do. Talk to you later, Mary." David said kindly.
"Bye David." Mary Margaret replied.
*****OUAT*****
Ella had been pacing upstairs, as she waited anxiously for her mom to come up. She had heard her talking downstairs and realized she was talking on the phone. She was talking to whoever it was for at least a half an hour. She then realized who she was talking to. David. She groaned and she was probably talking about her.
Ella rolled her eyes. She wanted them to get closer, but she didn't like her mom talking to him about her when she was in trouble. She didn't think that it was fair that her mom was discussing her punishment with him.
She plopped down on the bed and thought of how she could get to the mines. She hadn't even known they had mines until she found them on an old map in the library. They were under the town and she knew there had to be something hidden down there that would prove that the curse was real. She just knew something would be there. She just needed to get there.
She also hadn't given up on seeing what she could find sneaking around the Evil Queen's house. She had to have a secret lair or somewhere that she kept things from the Enchanted Forest. She knew she wouldn't have come over without bringing things with her.
"Ella. Are you ready to talk?" Mary Margaret asked as she came into Ella's room.
Ella rolled her eyes which didn't go unnoticed by Mary Margaret. She didn't answer or get up from the bed.
"Ella, I asked you a question." Mary Margaret said firmly.
Ella rolled her eyes again. "There isn't anything to talk about." Ella responded with attitude.
"Yes there is. First of all, your attitude needs to change. You have been very disrespectful to me and I'm not going to continue to let you get away with it. Second of all, you need to stop sneaking around and sneaking off. I know that you have been sneaking around the Mayor's house and office. And that cannot happen again. You know how she feels about me and you. If she found out you thought she was the Evil Queen and were sneaking around her house, I don't know what she would do, but it wouldn't be good for us."
"How'd you find that out?" Ella asked as she sat up with a frown.
"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that you stop trying to sneak off and that you stay away from Mayor Mills." Mary Margaret told her firmly.
"But I have to find proof or else Emma will never believe me and we will never defeat her, we will never break the curse!"
"She isn't the Evil Queen and I don't want you going around her. You never know what she would do to us." Mary Margaret said with a fearful look.
"Why don't you just stand up to her for once?!" Ella yelled in frustration at her mom, not really thinking about what she was saying or that she might her mom's feelings. "You let her have so much power over you. Maybe if you just had a backbone and stood up to her we wouldn't have to struggle so much!"
Mary Margaret looked at her with a hurt look. "How dare you say that? You know what it is like here and how much I have done to make sure you had a good life. I don't deserve to be treated this way by you." Mary Margaret said in a hurt voice.
Ella winced. She felt terrible now. She hadn't meant to hurt her mom like that. She just was frustrated and it felt like her mom never stood up for herself. She figured it was the curse that kept her mom down and kept her from fighting Regina, but she just wished that her mom would fight back like Snow White would have done. Mary Margaret was a lot more timid, even though lately she seemed to be a more confident then she had ever been.
"I'm sorry…I didn't mean it like that…" Ella tried to apologize.
"Thank you for saying your sorry, but you really should be thinking before you talk. Now, are you going to stay away from Mayor Mills and stop sneaking out every chance you get?"
Ella grimaced. She wasn't going to stop, but she couldn't tell her mom that so she would have to lie. "Yes. I'll stop." Ella said in the best defeated voice she could.
"Good because I couldn't stand for anything to happened to you." Mary Margaret said, but not fully believing her. It was hard when she had already snuck out five times and those were only the times she knew of. She didn't trust her daughter to tell the truth or to stop sneaking out. She hoped, but she didn't fully believe that she was telling the truth.
"Nothing is going to happen to me." Ella told her Mom kindly. "Are we done now?" Ella asked after a moment.
"No. Although, I like hearing that you are going to stop sneaking out, but that doesn't mean I trust you. You have lost my trust so you won't be alone ever. If you aren't at school or with me, you will be with a trusted adult. You are already grounded until I can start to trust you again with no allowance and extra chores, but that doesn't seem to be deterring you from sneaking out."
Ella knew what she was going to do and she wasn't very happy with it. She thought she was too old for getting spankings. This would be the second one lately. It had deterred her from sneaking out for a little bit.
"Mom, I'm too old for that!" Ella whined as she scooted back on her bed, away from her mom.
"You haven't been acting like it. You have been very disrespectful and irresponsible. Maybe a good spanking will help you realize that I am serious about your safety and I won't stand for the disrespect you have shown be. Not to mention that you were disrespectful to David." Mary Margaret told her as she walked up to Ella and took her hand to pull her up from the bed.
"No, Mom. This isn't fair!" Ella yelled at her mom.
Mary Margaret pulled Ella over her lap. "Fair would be you not sneaking off and leaving me worrying to where you have been. Fair would be you treating me with respect."
Mary Margaret continued to spank her daughter, but it didn't last long. Mary Margaret just wanted to get her point across and after a handful of hard swats she figured she had done that.
Mary Margaret righted her daughter and looked her in the eyes. "Now, I expect better out of you, young lady. No more sneaking off and no more sneaking around Mayor Mills. Understand?"
"Yes, Mom. I am sorry for everything." Ella replied through her tears.
"Good girl. I love you and your forgiven, baby girl." Mary Margaret said as she pulled her into a hug.
Ella cried and let her mom hold her for a few moments.
Mary Margaret pulled Ella from her gently and wiped away her tears. "Now, you clean yourself up and meet me downstairs. Dinner is just about ready."
Ella nodded, feeling a bit better knowing she was forgiven and she could start fresh again. She still felt bad though for the things she said to her mom. She felt worse that she still was thinking of how to sneak off to the mines.
*****OUAT*****
Ella did do better for the next week, even when David and Mary Margaret went on their next date and left them with Ruby, she managed to not sneak off, but she was itching to get to the mine to explore it.
By the next Wednesday, when David was taking Ella again when Mary Margaret had her meeting, Ella decided to try again. It wasn't the best idea, but she just needed to see what she could find there.
"Ok. I have to go." Ella whispered to Emma as soon as David left the room.
"Ella. No. You can't. I've been telling you all day this is a very bad idea, just like it was last week when you tried and got caught." Emma whispered seriously to her.
"I know, but I have to and you should come with me. Then if I find anything you will already be there." Ella argued.
"Oh my goodness, Ella. What is wrong with you? You are too old to believe in fairytales! Stop this ridiculous mission of yours! It isn't real! And I will NEVER believe you! You are crazy!" Emma whispered shouted at Ella in frustration and anger. It had been building up all week since Ella had been none stop talking about her theory and trying to get her to believe her.
Ella stood up and grabbed her bag as she blinked back tears. "Fine." Ella said quietly before sneaking out of the building, tears streaming down her face as she did.
Emma closed her eyes and realized that she just pushed Ella into leaving instead of getting her to stay. She had to go after her. Why did I call her crazy? I know I think her theory is crazy, but I should have never told her that she was crazy. She was trying not to cry. I am a terrible friend. I have to go make this right…
Emma quickly got up and snuck off to go find Ella.
15 minutes later…
"Girls…" David started until he saw that both girls were not in the station. "Emma? Ella?" David called as he went over to the bathroom, hoping they were just in there. He opened the door to see that they weren't there.
"Oh no…" David said before heading to his office to get his keys and jacket.
*****OUAT*****
At the mine entrance, Ella is about to go in.
"Ella!" Emma yelled from 30 feet from her.
Ella turned to look at her before walking into the mine. Emma ran down the hill and into the mine after her. What they didn't see was that Sean, one of David's friends had seen Emma running towards the mine. Sean dialed up David's number and let him know where his daughter was.
It wasn't long until there was a loud rumble as rocks and timber came crashing down in the mine as dust came out of the mine.
More to come! Thanks for reading!